Google Pixel 4a vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro
54
out of 100
VS
71
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 5.81-inch Google Pixel 4a (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G) that was released on August 3, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 4a
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Comes with 325 mAh larger battery capacity: 3140 vs 2815 mAh
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Weighs 46 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- 2.3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (838K versus 359K)
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 11% longer battery life (29:48 vs 26:51 hours)
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Google
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.81 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 443 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 700 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 83.3% | 86% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 95.3% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 255 Hz | 277 Hz |
| Response time | 6.2 ms | 3.6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 144 mm (5.67 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 69.4 mm (2.73 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 143 g (5.04 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | Black | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2200 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 470 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 470 Gold (Cortex-A76) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Lithography process | 8 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 618 | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 825 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~422.4 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 115287 | 235725 |
| GPU | 70626 | 264025 |
| Memory | 78602 | 152158 |
| UX | 92505 | 182343 |
| Total score | 359268 | 838760 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 41.4 °C | 38.1 °C |
| Stability | 99% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 6 FPS | 44 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1003 | 7430 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | Stock Android | - |
| OS size | 15 GB | 14 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3140 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 18 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 25 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:27 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:45 hr | 09:54 hr |
| Watching video | 11:16 hr | 12:40 hr |
| Gaming | 04:05 hr | 05:29 hr |
| Standby | 99 hr | 104 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12.2 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 120 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1 (12.2 MP) | 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) |
| Depth lens | - | Yes |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 4a from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" | - |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.1 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 3.1 | - |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 15 | 18 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2020 | October 2020 |
| Release date | October 2020 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 1.37 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.39 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 12 Pro is definitely a better buy.
